Alert! Having trouble with exponents and/or radicals? Come by for extra help at Flex (M, T, Th) or after school (Library: T, Th). These sites have great explanations as well: exponents (with audio explanations), exponents (written explanations, but clear!), radicals (audio), radicals (written).


June 3, 2008

We continued our exam revision.

HW:
  • Continue with exam revision. Next are systems, radical equations and complex numbers. Revise by looking over these Purplemath topics: linear systems, non-linear ystems, radical equations, and complex numbers. Do p. 335/2, 4-6, 10-14 & p. 379/4-14. Check your answers in the teacher's manual.
  • The best way to revise is to *do* problems. A good collection of problems with worked solutions are available on Algebra 2 Hotmath (Chapter 3 systems & Chapter 5 complex).


June 2, 2008

We continued our exam revision.

HW:
  • Continue with exam revision. Next are functions, transformation, and asymptotes/holes. Revise by looking over these Purplemath topics: function notation, function's domain and range, transformations, and asymptotes. Do p. 237/1, 2, 4-7 & p. 283/1-9. Check your answers in the teacher's manual.
  • The best way to revise is to *do* problems. A good collection of problems with worked solutions are available on Algebra 2 Hotmath (Chapter 2 functions) and Algebra 1 Hotmath (Chapter 9 relations & functions).


May 30, 2008

We continued our exam revision.

HW:
  • Continue with exam revision. Next are exponents and radicals and graphing lines. Revise by looking over these Purplemath topics: radicals, exponents, graphing lines (select from the beginning or intermediate section). Do p. 74/1, 2, 14, 15, 44, 45, 47, 53 & p. 125/1-4, 6, 7. Check your answers in the teacher's manual.
  • The best way to revise is to *do* problems. A great collection of problems with worked solutions are available on Algebra 2 Hotmath (Chapter 2 & 3- lines and inequality graphing) and on Algebra 1 Hotmath (Chapters 6 & 8- exponents and radicals).



May 28, 2008

We discussed the final exam and continued our revision.

HW:


May 23, 2008

We finished Supercorrections and revised for the exam.

HW:
  • Begin your final exam revision (details above)


May 21, 2008

We spent the day working on Supercorrections

HW:
  • Finish Supercorrections
  • It's not too early to begin your exam revision- details here.


May 16, 2008

Today was test day.

HW:
  • Believe it or not, it's time to begin our exam revision. We'll start with the toughest stuff- logs and exponentials. Revise logs by looking over these Purplemath explanations. Do p. 519/1-9, 11. You may need to look back in your text for continuous compounding, decibels, and/or Richter number.
  • The best way to revise is to *do* problems. A great collection of problems with worked solutions are available on Hotmath Chapter 8.


May 14, 2008

Today was our revision day.

HW:
  • p. 557/2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 22, 23
  • p. 462/4, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 27, 28, 37
  • p. 460/49
  • Be sure to check your answers in the answer key where necessary
  • Revise for Friday's Unit 9 test. It will cover Chapter 10 and 12 (except 12.5).
  • For further explanations of rational expressions, you may find the Purplemath explanations under Advanced Algebra Topic helpful.
  • Do more problems if you have time (the p. 561 Chapter Test 12 is a good source of probability problems).
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


May 12, 2008

We corrected the quiz together and then discussed the homework.

HW:
  • p. 537/5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23
  • p. 545/5-7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 21
  • Test Friday


May 8, 2008

We began by going over a couple more old homework problems, took the quiz, went over the new homework, and continued to discuss probability.

HW:
  • p. 531/1, 4, 5, 7-10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 31


May 6, 2008

We warmed up with p. 457/33-35, 48 and then went over the complex fraction homework. We corrected the quiz and began our work on probability.

HW:
  • p. 457/33-35, 48
  • p. 524/1-5, 7-12, 15-17, 19-21, 25, 29
  • Quiz Thursday


May 2, 2008

We gave some feedback, went over the homework, took the quiz, and then began work with complex fractions.

HW:
  • p. 457/3, 5, 6, 8-13, 16, 18, 24, 27, 32, 40


April 30, 2008

We warmed up with p. 445/28-30, 40, 46, went over homework, and then discussed adding and subtracting with unlike denominators (further explanation here and a revision of factoring here). We finished by working on the problems below.

HW:
  • p. 451/2, 5-13, 24, 25, 33-35


April 28, 2008

We warmed up with p. 439/27, 30, 31, 33 and then went over homework and practiced working more with rational expressions (adding with like denominators).

HW:
  • p. 445/1-9, 11-16, 23, 26, 27
  • Quiz Friday on Supercorrections and homework


April 17, 2008

We spent a bit more time on the Supercorrections and went over homework questions. We then worked some more with rational expressions.

HW:
  • p. 438/1-7, 9-19, 21
  • Supercorrections due Friday


Tax Day, 2008

We began class by working on Supercorrections. We then briefly discussed standard deviation and normal distributions. We finished by beginning our work with rational expressions.

HW:
  • p. 430/10, 12-21, 27, 29
  • Supercorrections due Friday


April 11, 2008

Today was our test day.

HW:
  • Read p. 416-418 (standard deviation)
  • Do p. 420/1-6


April 9, 2008

Today was our revision day. We went over homework, discussed that would be on the test, and practiced with these problems.

HW:
  • Finish p. 332/6, 9, 14 & p. 335/6, 12, 14 & p. 423/1, 4, 5, 8, 19 & p. 425/2, 4, 12, 18 if necessary. Be sure to check your answers in the answer key.
  • Revise for Friday's Unit 8 test. It will cover Chapter 7 and 9.
  • For further explanations of systems and polynomials, you may find the Purplemath explanations under Intermediate Algebra Topic helpful.
  • Do more problems if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


April 7, 2008

We began class by correcting the quiz. We then went over the homework from last class and learned about the Binomial Theorem- from the patterns to Pascal's Triangle to combinations.

HW:
  • p. 413/1-3, 7-11, 16, 25


April 3, 2008

After the quiz, we worked on p. 388/43 and we also looked at the polynomial in p. 386/24 and evaluated it at x = 1, x = -1, and x = 3. This led us to a discussion of the Remainder Theorem and the Factor Theorem and the importance of factoring when equation solving- we used this with p. 394/23. We learned a quick way to divide a polynomial by a linear term- synthetic division. We went over homework and then practiced with our new-found knowledge. Here is an explanation of synthetic division.

HW:
  • p. 387/26, 32
  • p. 392/1-3, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17, 23


April Fools Day, 2008

We warmed up with p. 314/5, 10, 34 and p. 321/19. We then went over homework and learned how to do polynomial long division. Here is another explanation of polynomial long division.
HW:
  • p. 327/9, 10, 14
  • p. 387/19, 24, 31, 34
  • Quiz Thursday on this unit's homework up until today


March 28, 2008

We went over the quiz and the homework and spoke a little about inverse variation.
HW:
  • p. 314/1, 3, 6, 7, 11, 13, 21
  • p. 329/30


March 26, 2008

We took the quiz, went over the linear programming homework, and then we worked on some further systems.
HW:


March 24, 2008

We warmed up with p. 307/1-6, went over the homework, discussed options for next year, and learned about linear programming.
HW:


March 20, 2008

We spent some more time on Supercorrections. We then went over the systems homework and learned how to graph in three dimensions. We used this applet to practice graphing in 3D, this applet to practice graphing something like x + 2y + z = 4 in 3D, and finally this applet to find the solution to a system like p. 302/15.

HW:
  • Finish p. 301/1-10, 12, 13, 15
  • Work on Supercorrections (due Monday, 3/24)
  • Quiz Wednesday


March 18, 2008

We began by working on Supercorrections. Here are the expectations for these Supercorrections.
  1. Next to your correct solution, write down where the question originally came from. For example, for question 1, it is from homework 8.2, number 3. When you do that, think about why you missed it the second time- had you forgotten how to do it, had you not had a chance to stop by or email about how to do it, did you make a careless error? Include that in your reflections above your solution.
  2. If there is more than one way to do a problem, show multiple methods. For example, on question 9a, you could square the 5 and square the i separately, or you could write out 5i x 5i and then write 5 x 5 x i x i. If you are not sure how to do a problem a second way, just ask!
  3. If there was any possible way of checking your answer, be sure to do so on the Supercorrections. For example, with question 7b, to check your answer, add one, take the square root, and double- is it 5?
  4. In your reflections on the problem, identify the key elements of the problem that are necessary to solve a similar problem in the future. This is your chance to really learn how to do this math- you will see these concepts again, whether it is on a future test, final exam, or future math course.
After working on the Supercorrections, we went over the normal distribution homework on p. 374 and then reviewed how to solve systems of linear equations using p. 294/1, 4-9.

HW:
  • Finish p. 294/1, 4-17
  • Work on Supercorrections (due Monday, 3/24)


March 12, 2008

Today was the test day. After the test, we worked on the normal distribution problems (homework).

HW:
  • Read p. 372-3
  • Do p. 374/1-4
  • Begin Supercorrections (due Monday, 3/24)


March 10, 2008

We warmed up with p. 367/1-8, 14-17 and then went over the old homework.

HW:
  • Finish p. 367/1-8, 14-17 if necessary.
  • Revise for Wednesday's Unit 7 test. It will include one question from each of the previous Finely Crafted Unit Tests as well as questions from this unit's homework (8.2-8.4).
  • For further explanations of complex numbers, you may find this Purplemath explanation helpful.
  • Do more problems if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


March 6, 2008

After going over the quizzes, we worked on one more quiz of our choice.

HW:
  • Take a final quiz of your choice from here.


March 4, 2008

After going over the previous quizzes, we worked on the Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability Practice Quiz #1.

HW:


Leap Day, 2008

After going over the previous quizzes, we worked on the geometry and measurement quiz #1.

HW:


February 27, 2008

After going over the previous quizzes, we worked on the algebra and functions quiz #1.

HW:


February 25, 2008

We signed on for a free SAT On-Line Prep Course at www.collegeboard.com/satonlinecourseschool. We discussed the SAT in general and the math component in particular. We talked about the 44 multiple choice questions and the 10 student produced response questions. We went through this practice quiz.

HW:


Valentine's Day 2008

We warmed up with three radical equations and then learned about complex numbers. We used the problems below.

HW:
  • Finish p. 360/1, 2, 4-7, 9-11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21


February 12, 2008

We worked on Supercorrections, went over homework, and then worked on solving radical equations.

HW:
  • Finish p. 352/1-10, 12, 14, 20, 21, 25, 27.


February 8, 2008

Today was test day. After the test, we worked on 6.6.

HW:
  • Read p. 275-277 and do p. 277/1, 2, 4, 7.


February 6, 2008

We corrected the quiz, went over homework, and revised using p. 283/2-7.

HW:
  • Finish p. 283/2-7 if necessary.
  • Choose any 8 problems from p. 280-283 or from 6.1-6.5 that are helpful for your revision and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back).
  • For further explanations of any topic, you may find this Hotmath explanation or this Purplemath explanation helpful.
  • Do more problems if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


February 4, 2008

After the quiz, we went over the homework, and then we looked further at graphing, including asymptotes.

HW:
  • p. 264/3-5
  • p. 271/1-4, 7, 9
  • Test Friday


January 31, 2008

We went over transformations and learned about reflections.

HW:
  • p. 256/1-4, 6-12, 13-18
  • Quiz Monday on transformations


January 29, 2008

After checking on questions from the Supercorrections, we went over dilations and the homework using the computer and then finished by looking at translations.

HW:
  • Spend 5 minutes playing with this applet- try each of the three functions, explore the a, the h, and the k values, and take note of the connection between the function's equation and its graph. Print out the page for your homework.
  • p. 248/1-12, 17, 19, 26


January 25, 2008

We are starting Chapter 6; today you will need to work independently. Please read p. 239-241. Work on p. 242/1-12, 16, 19, 22, 27, 31.

HW:
  • Finish 242/1-12, 16, 19, 22, 27, 31


January 23, 2008

Go over the test, revise the areas of weakness (with textbook, friends, etc.), and then write Supercorrections.

HW:
  • Supercorrections (due Thursday, 1/31)


January 17, 2008

Today was the test day.

HW:
  • Check out this brief list of the uses of logarithms.
  • Find an *interesting* or *useful* logarithm link on the web and email it to me email at . Feel free to browse some of the silliness on YouTube or just find a static page.


January 15, 2008

Today was the revision day for Thursday's test.

HW:
  • Choose any 10 problems from p. 515-519 or from 8.1 or 11.1-11.5 that are helpful for your revision and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back). The test will not include 11.6, so do not worry about problems from this section.
  • For further explanations of any topic, you may find Purplemath helpful (under Advanced Algebra Topics)
  • Do more if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...
  • If you would like to use any IOU's this quarter, bring them next class.


January 11, 2008

We warmed up with p. 498/1-8, we learned about the Richter Scale, and then we explored exponential functions some more with p. 505/1-3.

HW:
  • p. 505/5-7, 12, 18


January 9, 2008

We corrected the quiz and homework and then looked at how we change bases of logarithms to use our calculators.

HW:
  • Finish p. 498/1-8 if necessary
  • p. 498/9-11, 13, 17, 23, 26, 28
  • Test on Thursday


January 7, 2008

After the quiz, we discussed homework and log properties.

HW:
  • Finish p. 490/1-7 if necessary
  • p. 491/8, 10, 13, 19-22, 25, 26, 34


January 3, 2008

We got back into logs with some graphing and an introduction to natural logs. We went over homework and worked on p. 483/1-11

HW:
  • Finish p. 483/1-11 if necessary
  • p. 476/5, 28
  • p. 484/13, 18, 28, 31
  • Exponent/Log quiz on Monday covering 8.1, 11.1, 11.2


December 21, 2007

We looked at common and natural logs. We discussed the homework and continued our exploration of the log function using p. 478/29 and 31. This led us to consider log properties.

HW:
  • Finish p. 484/13, 20, 23, 25-27, 29


December 19, 2007

We began class with a little time for Supercorrections, we went over the exponent homework, and then we learned about the Lift Off Function g(x).

HW:
  • Finish p. 476/1-4, 6-12, 15, 20, 21, 23-25


December 17, 2007

After going over homework, we spent a little time on Supercorrections, and then we worked with exponents using the homework problems below.

HW:
  • Finish p. 345/1-4, 6-10, 12, 24, 29


December 13, 2007

Today was the test day. After the test, we began work with mean, median, mode, and percentiles.

HW:
  • Read p. 228-230
  • p. 230/1-4


December 11, 2007

We discussed recursive and discrete functions and what the test Thursday would cover.

HW:
  • Choose any 8 problems from p. 234-237 that are helpful for your revision and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back).
  • For further explanations of any topic, you may find Purplemath helpful (under Intermediate Algebra Topics)
  • Do more if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


December 7, 2007

We began class by correcting the quiz and then we went over homework. We learned about two special types of functions: discrete and recursive.

HW:
  • p. 216/1, 7, 10, 23
  • p. 224/6, 16a
  • Test Thursday


December 5, 2007

After the quiz, we warmed up with p. 201/8 and 6, discussed homework and revised function concepts, and discussed operations with functions. We did p. 209/1, 3ad, 5bc, and 7.

HW:
  • p. 209/2, 3bce, 5ade, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18


November 29, 2007

We continued to discuss functions and took a look at inverse functions. We worked p. 201/8 and 6.

HW:
  • p. 202/1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 21


November 27, 2007

We warmed up with function diagrams (these), looked at homework, and then discussed function domain, range, composition, and inverses.

HW:
  • p. 194/7-10, 12-15
  • Quiz Monday on functions and Supercorrections


November 21, 2007

We spent the class working on Supercorrections.

HW:
  • None- you've worked hard this semester; enjoy your break.



November 19, 2007

We corrected the homework and discussed box & whisker plots further. We introduced functions and began work on the Supercorrections.

HW:
  • p. 187/7-10, 12, 15, 17


November 15, 2007

After the test, we looked at Stem & Leaf and Box & Whisker plots.

HW:
  • Read p. 172 & 173
  • p. 174/1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12


November 13, 2007

We spent the day revising the unit.

HW:
  • Choose any 10 problems from p. 178-181 that are helpful for your revision and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back). If you find the problems on the Quadratics section of the Algebasics website helpful, you can use 4 of those as 4 of your 10 homework problems.
  • For further explanations of any topic, you may find Purplemath helpful (under Intermediate Algebra Topics)
  • Do more if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


November 9, 2007

We corrected the quiz and continued to discuss quadratic equations and how to work with them.

HW:
  • p. 152/9a, 13, 20, 21
  • p. 160/14, 21, 26
  • p. 169/12
  • Test Thursday


November 7, 2007

After the quiz, we discussed homework and how to solve quadratic equations.

HW:
  • p. 152/4, 6, 10, 14, 15
  • p. 160/7, 12, 20


November 5, 2007

We continued with factoring and moved into graphing quadratics.

HW:
  • p. 146/4-7, 9, 11, 13, 19, 23, 24, 27, 28
  • Quiz Wednesday


November 1, 2007

After discussing quadratics, we worked on factoring.

HW:
  • p. 138/2-4, 6-8, 10-14, 21, 23
  • Got any IOU's from this quarter? Bring them to class Monday if you would like to use them to increase your quarter grade.


October 30, 2007

We worked on Supercorrections and then began looking at quadratics.

HW:
  • p. 130/1, 2, 3a, 4, 5, 8-11, 15, 16, 20a, 25


October 26, 2007

Today was test day.

HW:
  • Get your test by the end of the day, and begin Supercorrections- correct the ones with careless errors (most likely the ones you thought you got right but are marked with an X). We will have class time on Tuesday to work on the harder ones. Supercorrections are due by the end of the day next Friday.


October 24, 2007

We revised for the test using this slope-intercept website, this line website, this exponent website, and this systems website.

HW:
  • Choose any 12 problems from p. 74-77 and p. 122-125 and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back). If you find the problems on the Algebasics website helpful, you can use 4 of those as 4 of your 12 homework problems.
  • Do more if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...


October 22, 2007

We went over the quiz, looked at compound functions, and discussed the regression line & p. 103 homework.

HW:
  • p. 117/14-21, 23, 31, 33

October 18, 2007

We took the quiz and then discussed lines of best fit.

HW:

October 16, 2007

We went over the quiz, looked at homework and then continued talking about linear functions and direct variation.

HW:
  • Quiz Thursday: If you are having any trouble graphing linear inequalities, you may find this explanation helpful. If you are having trouble with graphing lines, you may find this explanation helpful (has audio). If you find systems tricky, you may find this explanation helpful (has audio).
  • Do the two examples on p. 101-102
  • p. 103/3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 22, 28, 29

October 12, 2007

After the quiz, we went over homework and discussed how to solve linear inequalities.

HW:
  • Write p. 94 and 95 examples (two of them) and problem on homework
  • p. 96/10, 11, 13, 20, 30


October 10, 2007

We warmed up with some radicals & powers practice, discussed the line homework, and then talked about how to solve systems of equations.

HW:
  • p. 91/9, 11, 16, 17-25 odd

October 4, 2007

After correcting homework, we talked briefly about lines and worked on Supercorrections. These websites might be helpful to remind you about the slope-intercept form of a line: shooting an arrow through balls and practicing with slope-intercept and point slope.

HW:
  • Finish Supercorrections (due Wed)
  • p. 80-82/Do each of the 7 examples in your notebook (correct your answers from the given solutions)
  • p. 83/1-5, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, 24, 25
  • Powers and radicals quiz next Friday

October 2, 2007

We looked at exponents and radicals and then worked on Supercorrections.

HW:
  • Work on Supercorrections- due Monday
  • p. 75/10, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21a, 26, 27, 35, 37, 44, 45, 50, 51, 54



September 28, 2007

We had the test and talked about the class.

HW:
  • There are 5 exponent rules listed on p. 70 & 71. Write them down.
  • Do Problem 1 & 2 on p. 72 (feel free to look at the solutions)
  • p. 74/1-6

September 26, 2007

After going over homework, we revised for the test.

HW:
  • Choose any 12 problems from p. 66-69 and check answers (I have an answer key if you need to check an answer that is not in the back)
  • Do more if you have time!
  • Organize your homework assignments- check, correct, and staple them in order...
  • Test Friday


September 24, 2007

We went over homework questions, discussed probability and returned the quiz.

HW:
  • p. 63/5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17
  • Work with friends, struggle, read your text, ask Mr. O'Brien questions!



September 20, 2007

We took the quiz, went over homework questions, and discussed matrices. For another explanation of how to multiply matrices, click here. Mr. O'Brien got grumpy, but he'll get over it.

HW:
  • p. 55/9-15, 17-20, 27, 28, 33
  • Chapter 2 Test on Friday



September 18, 2007

After going over the quiz, we went over homework. We then discussed function notation and how to find the midpoint and distance given two coordinates.

HW:
  • p. 49/7-10, 12, 13, 17, 21, 23 (short assignment- remember, QvQ)
  • Quiz Thursday 2.1-2.3



September 14, 2007

Today was quiz day. After the quiz, we looked at the homework and some common algebra errors.

HW:
  • Revision worksheets from class: Did You Hear About... & What Do You Call Drilling 4,876 Holes?



September 12, 2007

We had a warm-up, spent a lot of time discussing class expectations, had little time to discuss homework, and almost no time to look at how to solve inequalities. We will spend most of our time on math questions after the quiz on Friday, I promise...

HW:
  • p. 41/11-23 odd, 26a, 28-32, 64b and check answers in the back of the book
  • Review for Quiz Friday covering 2.1 & 2.2 in your textbook- look at your old homework and do extra practice problems to review!



September 10, 2007

We had a cool warm-up, discussed homework, and looked at how to solve equations.

HW:
  • p. 34/11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21, 29, 31, 32, 38, 52 and check answers in the back of the book
  • Review for Quiz Friday covering 2.1 & 2.2 in your textbook



September 6, 2007

After some introductions and a discussion of the three interesting problems, we went over the course methodology. We then talked about the importance of thinking, doing, and communicating.

HW:
  • p. 27/12-14, 17bd, 18-21ab, 22, 25, 28, 29 and check answers in the back of the book
  • You might not be able to do all of these, so come to class with questions!!! Focus on the why as well as the how. Also, focus on your communication (i.e. how you write out your answers!)


Tues/Wed, September 4/5th

We thought about the following...

For each of the following problems, first estimate an answer and then try to calculate an answer using your mathematical skills.
  1. When was one million seconds ago? How about one billion seconds ago? For more on this problem, click here.
  2. Suppose a string were tied tight around the earth. If one additional meter were added to the string, and the string was lifted the same distance off the surface of the earth, how high would it rise? For more on this problem, click here.
  3. If a piece of paper could be folded in half fifty times, how high would the stack of paper be? For more on this problem, click here.
If you're interested in how we name large numbers, click here.

HW:
  • Sign up for a wikispaces account by clicking here.
  • Cover your text book.
  • Read the course methodology and come to class prepared to discuss it (a copy is available on the home page of this website).
  • Give the parent/guardian letter to your parent/guardian (again, a copy is available on the home page of this website).
  • Please complete this student information sheet (you won't be able to submit this unless you have all information- including a wikispaces username, parent email address, and textbook number).